Credit: Belkin Corp.                                                                        

(First Look) - How can a company innovative a peripheral as stale as a keyboard? In addition to having a display screen for gamers and a new layout, there’s not much you can do to improve keyboards, or is there? It looks like Belkin has a new keyboard that’s designed for the wireless enthusiasts in mind. According to Belkin, you’ll get about 30ft. of wireless coverage with a 75 percent wider operating distance and overall robust performance. While the rest of the layout is fairly standard, what’s exciting (at least to some of you) is a built-in mouse.

Belkin states, "The MediaPilot features dual-thumb mouse control. Its three-button scroll wheel and directional pad is ideal for surfing the Web at lightning-fast speeds. Ergonomically designed to fit your hands' natural movements, the mouse offers easy control from virtually anywhere." Of course, the mouse would come in handy for office-like applications and usage, but it’s not for the gamers in question.

These aren’t the only innovations Belkin is after; the company has integrated an audio/video remote that would let you control up to eight audio/video devices including your TV, CD and DVD player. Belkin states that MediaPilot’s smart-remote capability would let it learn device codes from new and old AV components automatically.

Additionally, the MediaPilot is bundled with programmable software that lets you program nearly 96 unique multimedia, office, software and gaming functions, which is nice in itself. Of course, you have the LED lights to depict charging vs. normal modes, software keys for quiet typing and a comfort pad that’s included with the keyboard.

The suggested retail price of the unit is $99.99.

Initial Thoughts: Besides innovation and technologies, the price is something that has us excited. You would think that the price of a keyboard with so many features would be far higher than $99.99, but it’s apparently not. Our only guess is that Belkin may be trying to invade Logitech’s territory as the top peripherals maker, so its starting out with reasonable prices and as it gains more ground, the price tags would start going up as well. Until that happens, maybe we can enjoy a few solid products at a reasonable price. Needless to the say, the keyboard is packed with multimedia and general purpose features, but unfortunately, it’s not the ideal design for gamers. The built-in mice is useless for gaming, so you might as well spent the money on a separate keyboard and mouse to get the best value (or opt for a Logitech keyboard/mouse combo).